198
VOLTAIRE.
darkness. In the end of 1773 he wrote the following stanzas, erroneously headed in his works as "to Madame du Deffant;" they were indeed sent to her for perusal, but were addressed to some lady still possessed of so much youth and beauty as to render the case of the Delia of the poem applicable to herself:—
"You wonder how time ne'er subdues
(Tho' eighty years have left their chill)
My superannuated muse,
That hums a quavering measure still.
(Tho' eighty years have left their chill)
My superannuated muse,
That hums a quavering measure still.
In wintry wolds a tuft of bloom
Will sometimes thro' the snow-drifts smile,
Consoling nature in her gloom,
But withering in a little while.
Will sometimes thro' the snow-drifts smile,
Consoling nature in her gloom,
But withering in a little while.
A bird will trill a chirping note,
Tho' summer's leaves and light be o'er,
But melody forsakes his throat—
He sings the song of love no more.
Tho' summer's leaves and light be o'er,
But melody forsakes his throat—
He sings the song of love no more.
'Tis thus I still my harp entune,
Whose strings no more my touch obey;
'Tis thus I lift my voice, tho' soon
That voice will silent be for aye.
Whose strings no more my touch obey;
'Tis thus I lift my voice, tho' soon
That voice will silent be for aye.
Tibullus to his mistress said—
'I would thus breathe my last adieu,
My eyes still with your glances fed,
My dying hand caressing you.'
'I would thus breathe my last adieu,
My eyes still with your glances fed,
My dying hand caressing you.'
But when this world grows all remote,
When with the life the soul must go,
Can yet the eye on Delia[1] dote?
The hand a lover's touch bestow?
When with the life the soul must go,
Can yet the eye on Delia[1] dote?
The hand a lover's touch bestow?
- ↑ Delia was the name of Tibullus's mistress.
